fuzzis
01-29-2006, 10:00 PM
I have to preface this by saying that I cannot stand Oprah Winfrey. I have genuinely been confused as to why people are calling her "apology" and calling James Frey on the carpet "brave". What's brave about it? And would she have done it if she wasn't taking heat for it herself?
The Wrath of Oprah (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11079174/site/newsweek/)
How James went to pieces, Oprah got her groove back, and other tales of 'truthiness' in the publishing trade.
Feb. 6, 2006 issue - Oprah Winfrey was in no mood for applause. As she walked onto the Chicago set of her talk show last Thursday, she was greeted with a thunderous, almost giddy ovation. "OK, everybody sit down," she said curtly and went quickly to her work. Looking into the camera, she confessed her sins. She had championed the author James Frey and "A Million Little Pieces," his searing memoir of addiction. She had stood by him, even as broad fabrications in his text came to light. She'd made a mistake in doing so. She was sorry.
And royally pissed off. During a break in taping, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, a guest on the program that day, watched Oprah from a few feet away. "She looked genuinely depressed," he told NEWSWEEK, "and loaded for bear."
Her anger was understandable. After all, her kingdom was at stake. In its 20 years on the air, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has operated with a simple credo: to thine own self be true. The formula has made Oprah her billions. ("I think the show's been successful," she told NEWSWEEK last fall, "because I'm always aiming for the truth.") It's also changed the way Americans live. Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor "emotes" on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create. So when she stuck adamantly by Frey, the fabricator, she seemed to have lost touch with her public. Worse, she seemed to have lost touch with her inner Oprah...
The Wrath of Oprah (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11079174/site/newsweek/)
How James went to pieces, Oprah got her groove back, and other tales of 'truthiness' in the publishing trade.
Feb. 6, 2006 issue - Oprah Winfrey was in no mood for applause. As she walked onto the Chicago set of her talk show last Thursday, she was greeted with a thunderous, almost giddy ovation. "OK, everybody sit down," she said curtly and went quickly to her work. Looking into the camera, she confessed her sins. She had championed the author James Frey and "A Million Little Pieces," his searing memoir of addiction. She had stood by him, even as broad fabrications in his text came to light. She'd made a mistake in doing so. She was sorry.
And royally pissed off. During a break in taping, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, a guest on the program that day, watched Oprah from a few feet away. "She looked genuinely depressed," he told NEWSWEEK, "and loaded for bear."
Her anger was understandable. After all, her kingdom was at stake. In its 20 years on the air, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has operated with a simple credo: to thine own self be true. The formula has made Oprah her billions. ("I think the show's been successful," she told NEWSWEEK last fall, "because I'm always aiming for the truth.") It's also changed the way Americans live. Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor "emotes" on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create. So when she stuck adamantly by Frey, the fabricator, she seemed to have lost touch with her public. Worse, she seemed to have lost touch with her inner Oprah...